Inside the Impala, Dean rested one hand on the steering wheel, nodding gently to the rock music on the radio. Sam leaned back in the passenger seat, leafing through the old journal John had left behind, while Bai Haorui snored away in the back.
"We're heading to Kansas to try our luck and see if we can find any trace of Yellow Eyes, right?" Sam closed the book and turned to ask.
"What else? Sit in a motel growing mold? Watch Bai sit cross-legged muttering mystical crap we can't understand?" Dean raised an eyebrow and pressed the accelerator. "Dad's journal mentioned a few Midwestern towns with frequent supernatural activity. There might be a lead."
Bai Haorui had just heard them and was about to speak when Sam suddenly clutched her head and curled up. Cold sweat instantly covered her forehead, and her voice trembled. "I saw it... an old man answered a phone call, then picked up a gun and shot the gun store owner before shooting himself!" She gasped sharply, her eyes filled with terror. "Guthrie, Oklahoma!"
Dean's expression darkened. He floored the accelerator and jerked the wheel, sending the car skidding around before racing toward Guthrie. "Damn it, let's get over there!"
Bai Haorui stretched and sat upright, silently muttering to himself, Sam's precognition is getting stronger. That's not a good sign. That old bastard Yellow Eyes could be watching her right now.
Three hours later, police crowded the gun store in Guthrie. Red and blue police lights flashed, casting an eerie glow over the surrounding streets. Dean flashed a fake federal agent's badge, and the three of them strolled right in.
The store was a mess. Two cold bodies lay on the floor, their blood already congealed into a dark brown. Broken glass and shell casings littered the ground, but the most conspicuous thing was a crumpled note with "Simon says" written on it in marker.
Dean took out his ghost detector and swept the store. It remained completely quiet, without so much as a beep. He cursed. "Not possession. What the hell kind of trick is this?"
Bai Haorui crouched beside the bodies and placed the Five Emperor Coins on the floor. The copper coins spun half a turn before stopping, their edges faintly gleaming. "Most likely mind control." He stood and dusted off his hands. "There's a strong residue of psychic energy here. Like a sticky film that won't go away. Whoever controlled them should still be in town, and their ability isn't weak."
Sam stared at the bodies, unconsciously clenching her hands until her knuckles went white. Her voice was helpless. "I saw it ahead of time, and I still couldn't stop it... this feels awful."
Dean patted her shoulder, feigning a lighthearted tone. "Don't take it to heart. You're not the Flash. Next time, we'll try to outrun time." But everyone could see the worry hidden in his eyes-Sam's visions were growing more specific, and more unsettling.
"The priority is finding them. And once we do, stay focused and watch out for mind control!" Bai Haorui replied to Dean, sounding a little impatient. "I fucking hate this mind-control stuff. You can never guard against everything." He turned to Sam, his tone growing more serious. "You seem especially sensitive to this kind of 'control.' It happened on the previous cases, too. Probably not a good thing. It's like doing a striptease in front of Yellow Eyes to get his attention."
Sam pressed her lips together without speaking, but her thoughts were a mess. Why me? What exactly is this ability?
The three made a circuit of town without finding any leads, so they ducked into a reasonably clean-looking bar. They had barely sat down when a tall, skinny blond young man approached with a devil-may-care smile and told the bartender, "Simon says, these three drink for free."
The bartender froze, hesitated, then actually waived their tab. The young man turned, raised an eyebrow, and held out a hand. "Andy Gallagher. Heard you talking about the gun store?"
Dean studied him warily, his hand quietly moving toward the gun at his waist. "Why do you want to know?"
Andy snapped his fingers, his tone playful. "Simon says, you'll tell me the truth."
Dean's mind suddenly went blank, leaving only one thought-tell Andy the truth. He opened his mouth, about to blurt out, "We're investigating..." But just as the words reached his lips, warmth spread across his chest. The Clear Heart Talisman Bai Haorui had given him earlier glowed faintly inside his inner pocket, and the feeling of being controlled vanished instantly.
"Damn it! You little bitch, you tried to control me!" Dean snapped out of it and glared at Andy, his hand already gripping his gun.
Bai Haorui reacted even faster, drawing his handgun and aiming it straight at Andy, his gaze sharp. "You're the one who can control people?"
Andy hurriedly raised his hands in fright, spreading his palms with an innocent expression. "Easy, easy! I only use it to make things convenient. Buy stuff, get free drinks. I've never hurt anyone." He tried turning to Sam with a smile. "Simon says, give me the gum in your pocket."
But Sam showed no reaction at all. She even felt around her pocket in confusion, then pulled out some gum and waved it. "You want this?"
Andy's eyes widened in surprise. He turned to Bai Haorui. "Put your handgun down."
Bai Haorui didn't budge, and a mocking smile even curled his lips. Andy was completely baffled. "Wow, you guys aren't affected? That's a first."
Sam was puzzled herself. "I... I don't know why either, but when you talk to me, I don't feel controlled at all."
Bai Haorui felt secretly pleased. Looks like the journal's methods for nourishing qi, strengthening the foundation, and reinforcing the aura actually work. That hour of meditation before bed every day wasn't wasted. Taoism says qi is the energy connecting body and mind, and a weak aura makes you vulnerable to interference. Practicing those breathing exercises every day, silently saying "draw in primal energy" as I inhale and "expel impurities" as I exhale, really has built up a bit of a protective aura. It's like putting soft armor around my mind. This kind of psychic interference really can't get through.
"If I ever catch you trying to control me again, I'll kill you!" Dean glared at Andy, still furious, his voice vicious.
Andy nodded hastily. "I promise, there won't be a second time! I just thought it was fun and convenient. I really didn't mean anything else." His eyes were clear and a little lost. Looking so cautious, he seemed nothing like someone who could control whether others lived or died. After all, in his twenty-odd years of life, he had never experienced any real malice. His parents' love and care had given him a gentle nature. Even with a special ability, he only dared use it for harmless little things like free drinks. He rarely even argued with anyone.
"Dean, you've got less mental discipline than some drunk old guy in a bar," Bai Haorui said, putting away his gun and enjoying the show. "Without my Clear Heart Talisman, you'd have dropped your pants right here if he told you to."
Dean flushed and glared at Bai Haorui. "Shut up!"
Sam stared at Andy, filled with confusion and wariness. Is he one of the Special Children, like me? Could his ability be connected to Yellow Eyes, too? She hesitated, then asked anyway, "Your ability... have you always had it, or did it suddenly show up later?"
Andy scratched his head, his gaze wandering with some uncertainty. "Around seventeen or eighteen, I guess. Suddenly I could just do it. I can't really explain why." He paused, sounding a little relieved. "Luckily, Mom and Dad never blamed me. They told me I'd always be their son, no matter what I was like. So I never dared do anything bad with it. Just made things convenient sometimes." His parents' acceptance had sheltered him like an umbrella. Being "special" had never given him any other ideas, nor had he developed any desire to use his ability for evil. His optimism and easygoing nature had all been nurtured by that warm environment.
As the four of them talked, Sam suddenly clutched her head again. Her face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat trickled down her cheeks. "No! A gas station, a woman... she's going to set herself on fire!"
Dean immediately stood and grabbed his jacket. "Come on! We're stopping her!"
Bai Haorui seized Andy's arm, his tone icy. "You're coming with us. Try anything, and I've got a hundred ways to make you regret it."
Andy waved his hands frantically. "It wasn't me! It really wasn't!" His voice was almost tearful, and the hurt of being suspected surged through him. What he valued most in life was the kindness his parents had taught him. How could he possibly do something so cruel? But Bai Haorui still dragged him along as they hurried after Dean and Sam, rushing out of the bar.
When they reached the gas station, they could already see a woman engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground in agony, her screams piercing the night sky. Frightened bystanders scattered in every direction, and no one dared approach to help.
Andy stumbled back in terror, his legs trembling, tears nearly spilling from his eyes. "It really wasn't me! I've been with you the whole time. I never had a chance to do anything!" Looking at the raging flames, his stomach churned. He had only seen such bloody, brutal scenes in movies. His deeply ingrained timidity made him instinctively want to run, yet an inexplicable guilt weighed on his heart-as though he was somehow inextricably connected to this disaster.
Dean frowned deeply at the raging flames. "Looks like there's another mind controller in town."
Bai Haorui crouched beside the scorched ground and set down the Five Emperor Coins. They merely trembled slightly before going still. He stood, his expression grave. "This controller is much stronger than Andy. The residual psychic energy matches what we found at the gun store, but it's even stronger." He glanced at Andy, who was still shaken, and had already reached a conclusion. This kid's too soft. If he's still this weak with an ability like that, he clearly isn't our ruthless killer.
The three spent much of the night working, continuing to pose as agents as they checked the victims' identities at the local police station. The results shocked everyone-the woman who had burned herself to death was Holly Beckett, Andy's biological mother, while Dr. Jennings, the victim at the gun store, had been the one who delivered Andy.
Sam dug up Andy's birth records in the town government's archive room and handed them to him with a grave expression. "You're adopted, and... you have a twin brother."
Andy's fingers trembled as he held the yellowed birth certificate, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Impossible! My parents never told me any of this! I have a brother?" He had always thought he was his parents' biological child. The inexplicable loneliness that sometimes rose in his heart had actually been the pull of blood ties. His parents' deliberate concealment had once been a shield protecting him, but now it made him feel as though the entire world had been lying to him.
"Your brother is most likely the other controller," Bai Haorui said calmly, leaning against the doorframe. "He's taking revenge. Whether someone's directing him is still hard to say, but there's definitely more to this."
Andy broke down instantly, crouching on the floor with his head in his hands, his voice choked. "How is this possible? Why would he kill people? What did they do wrong?" He couldn't understand such extreme behavior. As he understood it, even if someone had grievances, they should talk things through instead of solving problems with murder. This was precisely the limitation his warm upbringing had placed on his understanding, leaving him unable to see the darkness deep within human nature.
Sam looked at him and sighed in sympathy. "I know how it feels to suddenly get dragged into something strange. Sometimes fate is just that ridiculous." She thought of how Yellow Eyes had marked her, and of her parents' deaths, her eyes full of bitterness.
Dean stared at the photographs of the charred corpse, his expression grim. "Whoever's behind this, we find him, kill him, and end it."
Bai Haorui nodded, silently muttering to himself, That old bastard Yellow Eyes is the biggest suspect. After all, everything about the Special Children is tied to him. What the hell is he planning? Making these kids kill each other?
They were about to visit the orphanage to look for leads on Andy's brother when a man who looked almost identical to Andy suddenly emerged from an alley. He wore a black jacket, his eyes vicious and a cold sneer on his lips. A hostile air warned everyone away, sharply contrasting with Andy's sunny, easygoing manner. He stared fixedly at Andy. "My dear little brother. Long time no see."
Andy jerked his head up and froze at the sight of the man before him. "You... who are you?"
"I'm Anson, your twin brother." The man approached step by step, his eyes sweeping over the Winchester Brothers and Bai Haorui, his voice icy. "I suggest you stay out of my business!" There was no warmth in his voice, only resentment accumulated over the years. From being abandoned by his biological mother to enduring constant bullying in the orphanage, going hungry had been normal, and beatings and abuse from the other children had been everyday occurrences, not to mention the twisted caregivers. Those years of suffering had long since worn the softness in his heart into hard, sharp edges.
"You killed Holly and Jennings?" Dean stepped forward, shielding Sam and Andy behind him as he watched Anson warily.
Anson burst out laughing, his laughter filled with madness and resentment, as though emotions suppressed for over a decade had finally found an outlet. "So what if I did? They separated us back then and left me getting bullied in an orphanage, without enough food or warm clothes. Do you know what I had to do just to fill my stomach? And people treated me like a monster!" His eyes turned bloodshot as memories surged back like a tide. "Every day, I wondered why you got adopted by a good family and got to enjoy loving parents, while I could only struggle in the mud. Those people deserved to die. This was the punishment they deserved!" The orphanage's dark environment had exposed him to human evil far too early, and led him to blame every misfortune on being abandoned. His personality had become extreme and obsessive, convinced that only revenge could fill the emptiness inside.
As he spoke, he suddenly fixed his eyes on Dean, his gaze sharpening like a blade. Unlike Andy's cautious control, Anson's ability carried an intense, oppressive force, honed through countless killings. Every act of control was ruthless, leaving no room for resistance.
Dean seemed frozen in place. His eyes went vacant as he slowly raised his hand, drew the gun at his waist, and pointed it at his own head.
"No, he's controlling Dean!" Bai Haorui immediately realized something was wrong and lunged at Anson.
Anson shot him a cold glance. Bai Haorui felt an invisible pressure surge toward him, halting his steps for an instant-but only an instant. He immediately steadied his mind and continued charging at Anson. His daily breathing exercises hadn't been for nothing.
"You're crazy! He's innocent!" Andy cried, trying to rush forward and stop him, only to be halted by Anson's gaze. Seeing the madness in Anson's eyes, he felt both fear and heartache. This was his brother, who shared his blood, yet everything he did felt alien and terrifying.
Anson laughed as he dodged Bai Haorui's fist. "Innocent? There's no such thing as an innocent person in this world!" Having opened up some distance, he turned to Andy, his eyes full of mockery. "You're too weak. Such a great ability, and you use it to mooch food and drinks. What a waste!" To him, abilities existed for revenge and control. Andy's kindness was merely weakness grown in a greenhouse, beneath consideration. "We should've stood at the top together and made everyone who bullied us pay. But you're happy being ordinary. Pathetic!"
He turned to look a short distance away. Tracy, the girl Andy cared about, stood by the roadside, having been drawn over at some unknown point.
As though pulled by an invisible force, Tracy walked toward the roadside cliff with vacant eyes, a steep mountainside beneath her feet.
"Come any closer, and I'll make him pull the trigger!" he told Bai Haorui and Sam as they tried to sneak closer again.
Then Anson raised an eyebrow at Andy, his tone challenging. "Either kill me or watch them both die." He wanted to force Andy to cross his moral line. He was convinced that once Andy had killed, he would understand his "truth" and stand on his side. It was the only way he could think of to connect with this "lucky" younger brother. He turned back to Bai Haorui and Sam, his eyes vicious. "And you two, stop right now! Or I'll kill them both immediately! Don't ignore what I'm saying!"
Dean's mind was clear, but his body was completely beyond his control. Frantic and furious, he could only scream inwardly, Damn it! Let me go! Sam, Bai, forget about me and kill him! Looking at Sam's anxious face, he had only one thought-after this, he absolutely had to get Bai to teach him how to fight people with powerful psychic abilities. This was so fucking frustrating!
"Anson, come at me if you've got the guts! Don't hurt my brother!" Sam's eyes reddened with anxiety. She tried to rush forward, but Bai Haorui held her firmly back.
"Going in won't help. He can make Dean pull the trigger faster than we can reach him," Bai Haorui said rapidly, lowering his voice. "We need to distract him!"
Sam panted, looking around as her mind raced. What do we do? How can we distract him?
Andy watched Tracy approach the cliff's edge step by step. Dean's finger was already on the trigger and could pull it at any moment. His inner struggle reached its limit. He had never wanted to use his ability to hurt anyone, and his parents' teachings echoed in his ears, but now... He slowly drew the gun hidden on him and aimed at Anson, his voice trembling but firm. "You shouldn't hurt innocent people, and you shouldn't let hatred cloud your mind! You've left me no choice." His kindness was not weakness after all, but a moral line etched into his bones. Even facing his own older brother, he could not stand by and watch innocent people die.
Anson looked at him, his eyes full of mockery. "Finally ready to do it? Now you're acting like my brother."
While Andy still hesitated, Anson's gaze darkened further. Dean's finger slowly began to tighten, the trigger gradually drawing back. Anson's control grew increasingly ruthless. His heart had long since been filled with hatred, and as long as he achieved his goal, he didn't care who was sacrificed. This was the extreme personality forged by suffering: no trust, no empathy, only an endless desire for revenge and destruction.
At that critical instant, Bai Haorui quietly pulled a handful of glutinous rice bombs from his waist and hurled them hard at Anson's feet. They exploded with a bang, splattering white grains of glutinous rice all over him.
Anson instinctively ducked his head to dodge. His attention instantly shifted away from Dean and Tracy, and the invisible controlling force weakened.
Andy seized that instant and pulled the trigger. Bang!
The bullet struck Anson squarely in the chest. He looked down in disbelief at the bloody hole, then raised his head to Andy, a strange smile curling his lips. "In the end... you're just like me..." With that, he fell straight to the ground and stopped breathing. Even in death, he remained convinced that Andy was fundamentally the same as him, forgetting that Andy had killed to save lives, while he had killed only for revenge.
Dean immediately regained control, threw away the gun, and gasped for breath, his legs a little weak. He pulled Sam into his arms as she rushed over, his voice carrying lingering fear. "As long as you're okay."
Sam hugged him tightly, her voice choked. "Dean, I thought I was going to lose you."
Bai Haorui walked over to Andy, looking at his trembling hands and the complicated expression on his face, and spoke softly. "You didn't do anything wrong. You did it to save people, not to kill. That's different from Anson."
Andy crouched beside Anson's body, his eyes lost, his voice hoarse. "I killed my brother... I became the person I never wanted to be." He hugged his knees, his shoulders trembling nonstop. His life had always gone smoothly, and he had never faced such a desperate situation. The pain and confusion of killing a relative with his own hands nearly drowned him.
Sam walked over and patted his shoulder, her voice sincere. "No, you held on to your principles. Abilities themselves aren't good or evil. What matters is how you use them." She thought of her visions and Yellow Eyes' schemes, her resolve strengthening. She couldn't let fate lead her around. She had to take control of her own life.
Looking at Andy, Bai Haorui felt troubled too. "Hatred does the most damage. It destroyed Anson. Don't let yourself fall into it too." He paused, looking at the brothers' similar faces, regret in his voice. "He suffered too much at the orphanage. No one taught him kindness or moral boundaries, so he made hatred his reason to live. You're different. You have loving parents and a stable life. Those things let you stay true to yourself. His environment forced him to choose a different path from yours."
That evening, the three drove back to the Roadhouse. Ellen was already waiting at the bar. Seeing them enter, she immediately came over. "How did it go? Any leads on the Special Children?"
Sam sat at the bar and rubbed her temples wearily. "We met twin brothers who could control people. One was blinded by hatred and killed the people who separated them back then. In the end, the other brother killed him."
Bai Haorui picked up a beer and took a long drink before adding, "The killer, Anson-his mother died differently from the other Special Children's mothers. It wasn't a nursery fire when he was six months old. Her son controlled her and made her burn herself to death." Remembering Anson's vicious eyes, then Andy's helpless expression, he couldn't help sighing. "Born from the same womb. One grew up in a greenhouse, kind and gentle. The other struggled in the mud, obsessive and insane. The effect people's surroundings have on them is terrifying."
Ellen frowned and said thoughtfully, "That suggests Yellow Eyes might have more than one selection method. The number and distribution of the Special Children are more complicated than we thought."
Their lead had abruptly gone cold. All three fell silent, leaving only the soft music from the radio in the bar.
After a while, Dean picked up his glass and broke the silence. "Whatever happens, we're not stopping. Whatever Yellow Eyes wants to do, we'll make sure he can't."
Sam nodded, her eyes firm. "I won't let him succeed. I'm taking control of my own fate."
Bai Haorui raised his glass too and clinked it against theirs. "Cheers."
Ellen looked at the three of them, her tone warm. "The Roadhouse will always have your backs. Ash will keep tracking down leads on the Special Children. I'll tell you the moment we hear anything." She picked up her own glass and clinked it against theirs. "To being alive, and to never bowing to fate!"
Sam looked out the window at the pitch-black night sky. The fear and confusion she had felt before were gone, replaced by greater resolve. "I don't know what I'll end up becoming, but I definitely won't become what they want me to be!"
Dean patted her shoulder, his tone sincere. "Whatever you become, I'll be on your side."
"No use just thinking about this stuff," Bai Haorui interjected with a smile. "As long as I'm around, I won't let anything happen to you, my brothers! I'm waiting for you to have daughters, you know~"
Dean glared at him. "Get the hell as far away from me as you can!"
"Fine, fine! Rebelling against your elders! I should've shot you onto the wall back then, you unfilial son!"
"Sounds like you're itching for another beating! Take my Rozan Shō Ryū Ha~"
"Fuck, easy! Easy! Ah! I was wrong! Daddy Dean~"